Medical errors a global issue

The number of complaints about medical errors in Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand were similar despite widely varying medical systems, a survey has found.

Between 18 and 28 per cent of the recently ill people who were surveyed in the five countries said they had suffered from a medical or drug error in the past two years.

"We are struck by the patterns," said economist Cathy Schoen of the New York-based Commonwealth Fund, who helped lead the study.

The survey, published in the Journal Of Health Affairs, included 750 ill or recently ill adults in each country.

It found 18 per cent of those in Britain, 25 per cent in Canada, 23 per cent in Australia, 23 per cent in New Zealand and 28 per cent in the US reported a medication or medical error in the past two years. ");document.write("